birdgirl: young bird watcher. young naturalist

Showing posts with label young bird watcher. young naturalist. Show all posts

Saturday, 25 May 2019

Become an expert packer for birding trips

This is an article that I contributed to for the Mighty Goods website in the USA with 4 birders writing about how we prepare and pack for birding trips

One of them is Bill Thompson III who has sadly since died. The other two contributers are Jeff Reiter and Eva Matthews Lark.

This is one of the quesions I answered for my contributions:

What top 3 things do you bring besides the common stuff all bird watchers bring?

Can you guess what I included from one of these photos?

Mya-Rose Craig AKA Birdgirl with Author Jonathan Franzen
Copyright Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

Mya-Rose Craig AKA Birdgirl with Author Jonathan Franzen magazine cover
Copyright Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

Mya-Rose Craig AKA Birdgirl with her Leica binoculars
Copyright Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

Mya-Rose Craig AKA Birdgirl
Copyright Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

About the Author

Young environmentalist and birder Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig

Mya-Rose Craig is a 17-year-old young British Bangladeshi birder, naturalist, conservationist, environmentalist, activist, writer and speaker. She is based near Bristol and writes posts about birding, conservation and environmental issues from around the world.

She has been involved in the UK organisation of the Youth Strikes encouraging young people from around the world to not go to school once a month and protest instead demanding immediate action to prevent climate breakdown. This is an interview in New Statesman.

She was a Bristol European Green Capital Ambassador along with Kevin McCloud, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Tony Juniper, Simon King, Miranda Krestovnikoff and Shaun the Sheep! See the full list of Bristol Ambassadors. She has also been listed with the singer-songwriter George Ezra and actress Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones as one of Bristol's most influential young people.

She organised four nature is helping to run four more in 2019. She also organised a conference, Race Equality in Nature, in June 2016 aiming to increase the ethnic diversity in nature and plans two more in 2019. She has also set up Black2Nature with the aim of working with organisations to increase the access to nature of Visible Minority Ethnic people and is President. Please connect with her on LinkedIn (Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig) so that she can invite you to join the Race Equality in Nature LinkedIn Group and be part of the change.

She has given over 50 talks, speaking at conferences such as being on a panel with George Monbiot and Caroline Lucas on Sustainability and the Future of Cities. She is a Minister in Chris Packham's Manifesto for Nature in 2018 and spoke in front of 10,000 people at the Walk for Nature. She has also appeared on TV and radio and is particularly proud of being in Silent Roars, a short film which was part of Listen to Britain 2017 https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-the-silent-roars-2017-online.

She has been awarded the Bath and West Show Environmental Youth Award 2017 for Bristol for her Black2Nature work EYA 2017. She was also listed as one of Bristol's BME top 100 powerlist.

She loved seeing Mountain Gorillas in East Africa and Penguins in Antarctica over Christmas 2015, her 7th continent. She became the youngest person to see 5000 birds in 2019 age 16 and is looking forward to visiting Brazil birding in 2019 and hopes to see half the birds in the world there. Please also like her Birdgirl Facebook Page and follow her on Birdgirl Twitter. If you would like to contact Mya-Rose about her work, please e-mail helenabcraig@hotmail.co.uk.

Tuesday, 7 May 2019

Where the River Runs Gold by Sita Brahmachari

This is a wonderful inter-generational book about a pair of 11 year olds set in the future where children have to work on farms as we have lost our bees. This book is suitable for all generations will characters across age ranges. I love the fact that the siblings have a father called Nabil, which is my cousin’s name.

Thank you Sita Brahmachari for mentioning me in her acknowledgements for the book. I am so proud.

Synopsis

Two children must risk everything to escape their fate and find the impossible . . . A brave, thought-provoking adventure by award-winning author, Sita Brahmachari.

Shifa and her brother, Themba, live in Kairos City with their father, Nabil. The few live in luxury, whilst the millions like them crowd together in compounds, surviving on meagre rations and governed by Freedom Fields - the organisation that looks after you, as long as you opt in.

The bees have long disappeared; instead children must labour on farms, pollinating crops so that the nation can eat. But Nabil remembers Before and he knows that the soul needs to be nourished as much as the body so, despite the risk, he teaches his children how to grow flowers on a secret piece of land hidden beneath the train tracks.

The farm Shifa and Themba are sent to is hard and cruel. Themba won't survive there and Shifa comes up with a plan to break them out. But they have no idea where they are - their only guide is a map drawn from the ramblings of a stranger.

The journey ahead is fraught with danger, but Shifa is strong and knows to listen to her instincts - to let hope guide them home. The freedom of a nation depends on it . . .

To be published July 11th 2019

Publisher: Hachette Children's Group

Blogspot www.sitabrahmachari.com

About the Author

Young environmentalist and birder Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig

Mya-Rose Craig is a 16-year-old young British Bangladeshi birder, naturalist, conservationist, environmentalist, activist, writer and speaker. She is based near Bristol and writes posts about birding, conservation and environmental issues from around the world.

She has been awarded the Bath and West Show Environmental Youth Award 2017 for Bristol for her Black2Nature work EYA 2017. She was also listed as one of Bristol's BME top 100 powerlist.

Friday, 10 March 2017

Being the Friends of the Earth Magazine Earth Matters' Front Cover

Last December, Friends of the Earth UK asked me if I would be interviewed for their magazine. I do quite a few interviews so said yes, thinking nothing of it.

The following week, Friends of the Earth asked if their photographer could come down to Bristol and take a few photographs. They wanted photographs of me ringing, so I fixed for him to come the following Saturday morning to Chew Valley Ringing Station.

The morning went like this:

8.30 am BBC Points West News camera crew and reporter Alice Bouverie to film about Black2 Nature

9.30 am Andrew McGibbon Friends of the Earth UK photographer with assistant

10.45 am Quick change of clothes from birding gear to trendy city clothes

11.30 am Shopping with my friend in Bristol's Cabot Circus

With my trainer Mike Bailey and BBC Points West film crew

When Andrew arrived, he told me that he was shooting for the front cover of their magazine. That didn't phase me, as I thought he meant that I was going to be in a little box on the front cover with the other people being interviewed.

With Andrew McGibbon from Friends of the Earth

In January the magazine editor e-mailed my mum. She said that she just wanted to check a fact. I had said that I had been taken on my first twitch when I was 9 days old and she was just checking if it was meant to read 9 weeks or 9 months. Mum had to e-mail back to say that I was right, they had taken me to the Isles of Scilly when I was only 9 days old to see a Lesser Kestrel!

I didn't hear anything more until the end of January, when Andrew tweeted me with a photograph of the front cover of the Friends of the Earth members magazine, "Earth Matters". I was stunned and embarrassed to see my face on the front of the magazine with my quote "beauty all around me". Was that really me?

This was at a time when there were unpleasant things going on for me on Twitter, so this was amazing and made me feel above it all. The magazine hasn't been posted out yet though so all I had seen was this photograph.

The whole of that was unreal in itself, but the next thing was even more unbelievable.

A couple of weeks later, I had a previously arranged meeting at the Friends of the Earth Head office in London with Paul De Zylva who is very senior there, to talk about Black2Nature and the environmental sector. First, I got to look around their fantastic and trendy offices which are in an old printworks, with an igloo and treehouse for quiet and creative working. I definitely would like to work there and try it all out.

As we walked around the office, everywhere I looked there were 4-5 magazines spread out on desks and tables, all with my face on them, starting in the reception. There were also huge TV screens around the office, all with my face across them. As we wandered around, staff did a double take as they recognised my face but maybe didn't know where from initially. I also got to see Andrew, which was lovely. He said he was really proud of my cover and the full page photograph of my inside and said that he thought it was probably best Earth Matters cover ever! As a teenager, I was of course hugely embarrassed, but when I actually picked the magazine up and saw it in real life, I suddenly felt really proud.

I doubt very much that I will be the front cover of a magazine like that again, but even if I am, there is no way I'll ever have the experience of walking around the Friends of the Earth offices like that and seeing my face everywhere. That was an incredible experience. Thank you Friends of the Earth and I would encourage you all to join up.

A couple of weeks later, the magazine was posted out to Friends of the Earth members and I started hearing from people I knew as they received their magazine. My image was full size on the A4 envelopes sending out the magazines. A teacher at school brought in the magazine and put it up on the staff notice board. It was great that so many people I knew were members of Friends of the Earth.

This is a link to an on-line shortened version of the magazine

bit.ly/2mFMfYt.

About the Author

Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig in Antarctica
Photograph copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

Mya-Rose Craig is a 14 year old young British Bangladeshi birder, naturalist, conservationist, environmentalist, activist, writer and speaker. She is based near Bristol and writes the successful Birdgirl Blog, with posts about birding and conservation from around the world. She loved seeing Mountain Gorillas in East Africa and Penguins in Antarctica over Christmas 2015, her 7th continent.

Mya-Rose was a Bristol European Green Capital Ambassador along with Kevin McCloud, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Tony Juniper, Simon King, Miranda Krestovnikoff and Shaun the Sheep! See the full list of Bristol Ambassadors. She has also been listed with the singer songwriter George Ezra and actress Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones as one of Bristol's most influential young people. She organised a conference, Race Equality in Nature, in June 2016 aiming to increase the ethnic diversity in nature. She has also set up Black2Nature with the aim of working with organisations to increase the access to nature of BAME people. Please connect with her on LinkedIn (Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig) so that she can invite you to join the Race Equality in Nature LinkedIn Group and be part of the change. Please like her Birdgirl Facebook Page and follow her on Birdgirl Twitter

Tuesday, 12 April 2016

Thank you letter from Geographical Association

This is the lovely letter I received from the President of the Geographical Association for School Teachers on the talk I gave at their Annual Conference.

Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig talking to geography teachers at the GA Conference

12 April 2016

Dear Mya-Rose,

I simply had to write and thank you for all the time you gave up to come and talk at, not one, but two sessions at the Geographical Association conference. You will be pleased to hear I am sure that your contributions were a key talking point around the conference and that the points you were making have been discussed in a wider community - the geographers. I am so grateful to you for contacting us and for sharing your thoughts and ideas with us. I know the young people in the morning were intrigued with what you had to say and that they found it especially useful to have someone of a similar age talking to them as opposed to someone of another generation. The teachers in the afternoon were deeply impressed with your confidence and presence in presenting and the messages you so clearly articulated. Many of them will be using your ideas in their future lessons.

I am only so sorry that my Presidential duties prevented me from spending more time with you and attending the sessions myself. But it has been good to receive so many positive and lovely comments about what you offered the conference. I do hope that you enjoyed the experience and that you felt it was a worthwhile event to attend.

Thank you for your kind invitation to the Bristol event you are involved with - I am hoping to be there - it really does depend on availability at the time. My colleague Jeremy Kraus who lives in Bristol is hoping to be there anyway so I will hear of another success from you.

My very best wishes for the future - I know it will be a bright one.

And thank you again for joining us.

Steve

Steve Rawlinson

President, Geographical Association

Geographical Association Primary Geography Champion

Consultant to the Geographical Association

Chair of the Primary Geography Editorial Board

http://www.geography.org.uk/

Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig talking to geography teachers at the GA Conference

About the Writer

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig on Scilly
Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Craig

Mya-Rose Craig is a 13 year old young birder, naturalist, conservationist, environmentalist, activist, writer and speaker. She is based near Bristol and writes the successful Birdgirl Blog, with posts about birding and conservation from around the world. She loved seeing Mountain Gorillas in East Africa and Penguins in Antarctica over Christmas 2015, her 7th continent.

Mya-Rose is a Bristol European Green Capital Ambassador along with Kevin McCloud, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Tony Juniper, Simon King, Miranda Krestovnikoff and Shaun the Sheep! See the full list of Bristol Ambassadors. She has also been listed with the singer songwriter George Ezra and actress Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones as one of Bristol's most influential young people. Please like her Birdgirl Facebook Page and follow her on Birdgirl Twitter

Monday, 4 April 2016

My video on GMO's

Please watch my video on my concerns about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO's) http://bit.ly/1UUGIL2

I'm really worried about GMO's being brought into the UK food chain, without us citizens getting a say. Last year, I wrote a blog post about GMO's http://bit.ly/1qBxciR which appeared on Beyond GM's website.

In the USA, GMO's are classified as weed killer and not food. This is not about feeding the world, we already have enough food to feed everyone on the planet. This is about our food being part herbicide and pesticide and the obvious effect on health this is likely to have. There is no research testing the effects of GMO that are longer than 3 months, so how is that testing what will happen to my in 30 years if I eat this food?

I believe that our politicians and countries are in effect bought out by large corporations. Very soon President Obama is coming to Europe to try and force through the TTIP, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. This will allow any USA company to sue a EU government or local government if their profits might be reduced by a piece of legislation and stop the new law. So in the USA, the chemical companies who manufacture GMO's stopped State Governments from bringing in law that said that food had to be labelled if it contains GMO's. The basis of the cases were that if people knew that a product contained GMO's they might not buy it and this would effect the company's profits. I find it unbelievable that we would be even considering an agreement that will stop the people we elected from looking after our health for profit.

Already many of our UK animals are fed GMO food and so the chemicals will be in the meat, eggs and milk. All of this is unlabelled and consumers have no idea. Please start opening your eyes to what is happening and say no to GMO's.

For more information http://bit.ly/1qGqWqC

About the Writer

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig on Scilly
Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Craig

Mya-Rose Craig is a 13 year old young birder, naturalist, conservationist, environmentalist, activist, writer and speaker. She is based near Bristol and writes the successful Birdgirl Blog, with posts about birding and conservation from around the world. She loved seeing Mountain Gorillas in East Africa and Penguins in Antarctica over Christmas 2015, her 7th continent.

Mya-Rose is a Bristol European Green Capital Ambassador along with Kevin McCloud, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Tony Juniper, Simon King, Miranda Krestovnikoff and Shaun the Sheep! See the full list of Bristol Ambassadors. She has also been listed with the singer songwriter George Ezra and actress Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones as one of Bristol's most influential young people. Please like her Birdgirl Facebook Page and follow her on Birdgirl Twitter

Sunday, 6 December 2015

Wildlife Photographer of the Year

On Tuesday 1^st December 2015, I attended the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition Private preview at M Shed Bristol. Our lovely birding friend, Andy Pym, arranged the tickets for us.

I know I say it a lot, but I am so lucky to live in Bristol, where things like this are held.

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig
Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig

M Shed is a huge museum on the waterfront and the exhibition was still packed with local people involved in nature, conservation and the media as well as sponsors. It was lovely to talk to Matt Collis from the Avon Wildlife Trust, Maddy Bartlett from Bristol Nature Network, Ben Hoare from BBC Wildlife Magazine and Sam Hobson a great photographer, as well as lots of birding friends.

I also got to meet Mark Carwardine, one of the main judges, who also lives in Bristol. I saw Mark give a talk earlier in the year and it was great finally meeting him. After a few minutes of chatting, it turned out that Mark had just returned from Antarctica and had chartered the ship we were going to be travelling on, the Vavilov. That seemed a huge co-incidence! Chatting to him, Mark asked me how many blog posts I had published and I had said about 225 in 18 months as a guess and he had said that was great, as it was one every two days. So when I got home and checked, intrigued, I had actually published 240 posts in just 2016.

The exhibition itself was absolutely fantastic, as always. I don’t want to give spoiler to anyone going. However, in particular, I loved the black and white photos, the diverse earth ones, and the ones of animals having negative interacting with humans. In the last section, I felt really sad looking at one of an elephant chained up and one with ligers (hybrid of a lion and tiger), tigers and lions with standing on podiums, drugged and with their teeth and claws pulled out. It was terrible and I’m sure will continue to haunt me. I also liked all the photographs from under 18’s, especially the ones from photographers under 10, which were awesome.

About the Writer

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig on Scilly

Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Craig

Mya-Rose Craig is a 13 year old young birder, naturalist, conservationist, environmentalist, writer and speaker. She is based near Bristol and writes the successful Birdgirl Blog, with posts about birding and conservation from around the world. She loved seeing Mountain Gorillas in East Africa and is looking forward to watching Penguins in Antarctica in December 2015, which will be her 7th continent.

Mya-Rose is a Bristol European Green Capital 2015 Ambassador along with Kevin McCloud, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Tony Juniper, Simon King, Miranda Krestovnikoff and Shaun the Sheep! See the full list of Bristol 2015 Ambassadors. She has also been listed with the singer songwriter George Ezra and actress Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones as one of Bristol's most influential young people. Please like her Birdgirl Facebook Page and follow her on Birdgirl Twitter